Thursday, October 25, 2012

Change of season...change of sparrows...

Last night when I got home from work, I sat down with my sketch book to find inspiration for today's post. I had lots of ideas, but it wasn't until I saw two sketches of a Savannah Sparrow that I knew I had my subject. I adore sparrows. They are sweet, and their subtle shades of browns, grays, and caramels are restful to the eye and make sparrows interesting to paint...

...a sweet Savannah Sparrow in an early spring meadow (watercolor).

Sparrows go about their business without flash. They flit through the grasses and make us work to see and identify them. This little Savannah Sparrow, however, was making it easy. He was singing heartily, perched on a tall and dried-out reedy stem of grass left over from winter. This sighting goes back to March 24, 2012 at Armleder Park in Cincinnati, OH. This bird was part of a pair that took turns diving down to the ground, then fluttering back up to a perch. In the same field, two Vesper Sparrows were doing the same thing, although they were much more secretive and did not do quite as much "fluttering up." Both species were returning migrants, and it was wonderful to welcome them back for the season...

...same Savannah Sparrow trying his best to fade away in a field of dead stalks and grasses (watercolor).

...but now, it's almost time to say goodbye to our sweet summer sparrows, but before our beautiful little Savannahs hurry off, I thought spending a few hours painting one seemed like a great way to bid adieu!

Sketches of the Savannah Sparrow at Armleder Park from back in March.

Soon our winter sparrows will be here...White-crowned, White-throated, Fox, and American Tree Sparrows. None have showed up in our yard yet, but we are watching and waiting!

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